Democratic Bill Offsets Payroll Tax Cut With Fannie, Freddie Fee

Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Democrats in the U.S. Senate are proposing to raise the fees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac charge to lenders to offset the $185 billion cost of extending and expanding a payroll tax cut for workers into 2012, according to a summary released by Senator Robert Casey.

The legislation would also impose a 1.9 percent surtax on income over $1 million, which is lower than a 3.25 percent surtax Democrats had previously proposed.

--Editors: Jodi Schneider, Robin Meszoly

To contact the reporter on this story: Steven Sloan in Washington at ssloan7@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net